Syria accused of flouting Chemical Weapons Convention at UN

A United Nations vehicle during the visit by international experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to Damascus. (AFP/File)
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Updated 29 April 2022
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Syria accused of flouting Chemical Weapons Convention at UN

  • US deputy envoy: ‘Assad regime has used chemical weapons at least 50 times since conflict began’
  • UAE: Terror groups such as Daesh seeking to obtain chemical weapons

LONDON: On the 25th anniversary of the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the US on Friday accused Syria of flouting the treaty and obstructing inspectors.

“The Assad regime has used chemical weapons against its own people on at least eight occasions since joining the convention,” said Richard M. Mills Jr., US deputy ambassador to the UN.

“And the picture is even more grim than that. The US assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons at least 50 times since the conflict in Syria began,” he added.

“Syria, as a state party to the CWC, agreed to fully disclose the precise location, aggregate quantity and detailed inventory of chemical weapons it possesses, yet as we’ve heard countless times … Syria’s declaration still cannot be considered complete and accurate.”

Izumi Nakamitsu, UN undersecretary-general of disarmament affairs, told the Security Council: “Despite the accession of Syria to the CWC, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons continues to document instances of chemical weapons use in Syria.”

She added: “This council has not fulfilled its responsibility to hold accountable the perpetrators of these heinous acts.” 

Nakamitsu said while the regime had agreed to limited talks in Beirut, the OPCW had yet to receive documentation about Syria’s remaining stockpiles, an attack on a military installation in March 2021, and an attack on the city of Douma in 2018. The regime had also refused to issue a visa for a key inspector, she added.

“The Syrian Arab Republic has agreed to the limited round of consultations, while at the same time requesting the exclusion of one OPCW secretariat expert,” she said.

“Until these outstanding issues are closed, the international community cannot have full confidence that the Syrian Arab Republic’s full chemical weapons program has been eliminated.” 

Syrian Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh said the inspector in question had been denied access because of a “lack of objectivity and professionalism.” He accused the OPCW and the CWC of political bias.

Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said the convention had become a “punitive” instrument wielded in the interests of a “narrow group of countries” against Syria.

“At its 25th anniversary, the OPCW has very serious systemic problems and a tarnished reputation,” he added.

“Russia unconditionally supports the CWC and is committed to its letter and spirit. What gives rise to question to us is how its provisions are being implemented by the OPCW.”

Mills, though, said: “In the face of irrefutable proof documented by the meticulous work of the OPCW that Syria is flouting its CWC obligation, the Assad regime in this chamber hurls preposterous accusations of bias at the OPCW independent and professional experts in a failed effort to immune them and distract from proven facts.” 

The UK, China and others also accused Syria of not cooperating with the international community, with France calling its use of chemical weapons “odious.”

The UAE said while the CWC had succeeded in securing the disposal of “99 percent” of the world’s chemical weapons, they were being sought by terrorist groups such as Daesh.

“As we have recently witnessed in Al-Hasakah, terrorist groups continue to develop their methods of attack, and seek to obtain advanced weapons such as chemical weapons to achieve their nefarious goals,” said Mohamed Abushahab, the UAE’s deputy permanent representative. 

“Accordingly, we stress the importance of continuing our fight against Daesh in Syria and elsewhere … to prevent them from acquiring chemical weapons.”


Israeli military prepares plan to ensure Iran cannot threaten country, defense minister says

Updated 55 min 39 sec ago
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Israeli military prepares plan to ensure Iran cannot threaten country, defense minister says

  • Longtime enemies engaged in 12-day air war in June
  • Israel and Iran agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire on June 24

DUBAI: The Israeli military is preparing an enforcement plan to “ensure that Iran cannot return to threaten Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told senior military officials.

He said the military must be prepared, both in intelligence and operations, to ensure Israel has air superiority and to prevent Tehran from reestablishing its previous capabilities.

He made his remarks following a 12-day air war between the longtime enemies in June, during which Israel struck Iranian nuclear facilities, saying the aim was to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies seeking nuclear arms and that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Israel and Iran agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire that ended hostilities on June 24.


Trump expects Hamas decision in 24 hours on ‘final’ Gaza peace proposal

Updated 04 July 2025
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Trump expects Hamas decision in 24 hours on ‘final’ Gaza peace proposal

  • Israel has earlier agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether the Palestinian militant group Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a “final proposal” for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza.

The president also said he had spoken to Saudi Arabia about expanding the Abraham Accords, the deal on normalization of ties that his administration negotiated between Israel and some Gulf countries during his first term.

Trump said on Tuesday Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

He was asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, and said: “We’ll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours.”

A source close to Hamas said on Thursday the Islamist group sought guarantees that the new US-backed ceasefire proposal would lead to the end of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza authorities.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a US takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the UN and Palestinians as a proposal of “ethnic cleansing.”

Abraham Accords

Trump made the comments on the Abraham Accords when asked about US media reporting late on Thursday that he had met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House.

“It’s one of the things we talked about,” Trump said. “I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham accords,” he added, citing the predicted expansion to the damage faced by Iran from recent US and Israeli strikes.

Axios reported that after the meeting with Trump, the Saudi official spoke on the phone with Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of Iran’s General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Trump’s meeting with the Saudi official came ahead of a visit to Washington next week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

Updated 04 July 2025
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Darfur civilians ‘face mass atrocities and ethnic violence’

  • Medical charity warns of new threat from escalation in fighting in Sudan civil war

KHARTOUM: Civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan face mass atrocities and ethnic violence in the civil war between the regular army and its paramilitary rivals, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned on Thursday.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have sought to consolidate their power in Darfur since losing control of the capital Khartoum in March. Their predecessor, the Janjaweed militia, was accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.

The paramilitaries have intensified attacks on El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state which they have besieged since May 2024 in an effort to push the army out of its final stronghold in the region.
“People are not only caught in indiscriminate heavy fighting ... but also actively targeted by the Rapid Support Forces and their allies, notably on the basis of their ethnicity,” said Michel-Olivier Lacharite, Medecins Sans Frontieres’ head of emergencies. There were “threats of a full-blown assault,” on El-Fasher, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people largely cut off from food and water supplies and deprived of access to medical care, he said.


Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

Updated 04 July 2025
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Egypt on alert as giant dam in Ethiopia completed

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia moved on Thursday to reassure Egypt about its water supply after completing work on a controversial giant $4 billion dam on the Blue Nile.

“To our neighbors downstream, our message is clear: the dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

“The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia. We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water. Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all.”

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is 1.8 km wide and 145 meters high, and is Africa's largest hydroelectric project. It can hold 74 billion cubic meters of water and generate more than 5,000 megawatts of power — more than double Ethiopia’s current output. It will begin full operations in September.

Egypt already suffers from severe water scarcity and sees the dam as an existential threat because the country relies on the Nile for 97 percent of its water. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Sudan’s leader Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan met last week and “stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile basin.” They were committed to safeguarding water security in the region, Sisi’s spokesman said.


Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

Updated 03 July 2025
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Explosive drone intercepted near Irbil airport in northern Iraq, security statement says

  • The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally,” the Irbil airport authority said

IRBIL, Iraq: An explosive drone was shot down near Irbil airport in northern Iraq on Thursday, the Iraqi Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

There were no casualties reported, according to two security sources.

The “Flight operations at the airport continued normally and the airport was not affected by any damage,” the Irbil airport authority said in a statement.

The incident only caused a temporary delay in the landing of one aircraft, the statement added.